Milkrice

Fleeting memories and fickle interests captured in photographs.

[milkrice]

Has it really been almost two years since I last posted here? There must be some all-encompassing term to describe the wistfulness and surprise one goes through when stumbling upon an artifact that reminds them of exactly how much time has passed. Something related to Rip Van Winkle, maybe. 

Recently, a friend of mine asked me why I stopped uploading to Flickr. “Because I stopped taking pictures,” was the only response I had, and it saddened me to admit it. Luckily, it’s one of the few sorrows with a quick and easy cure: get back into photography. 

Hello again, world. 

[milkrice]

We fostered these babies last month and they're long gone off to happy homes by now, but a part of me still misses them. Waffles, the boy on the left, is a complete sweetheart who was scared of everything. Pancakes, the girl on the right, is the polar opposite — she jumped and explored and regularly Houdini'd her way out of the barriers we put up.

[milkrice]

A sweet hostess gift of Chantal Guillon macarons, and even more motivation for me to figure out how to make my own because I'm pretty sure macarons and crack cocaine are interchangeable as far as pricing and addictiveness goes. 

M teases me for saying 'crack cocaine' instead of whatever the cool kids are calling it these days. 

[milkrice]

Things I'm Really Bad At: 

-taking pictures whilst holding the camera somewhere above my head -loading up tacos with a manageable ratio of ingredients -updating my blog

Things I'm Really Good At: 

-shredding lettuce

Tacos are one of those magic-trick-esque meals where you can astound and amaze people for (relatively) little effort. Do you have an outrageously good tortilleria near you? Can you chop up a bunch of things really small? Then you got this. 

I used to dislike Mexican rice until I found this recipe. Other than substituting in brown rice instead, it's one of the few recipes I follow to the letter because it's perfect as is.  

[milkrice]

Honey chiffon cake with lemon-raspberry semifreddo. Despite my chocolate cake cravings, I was compelled to make something light and summery instead. The raspberries taste a little bit like home.

I'm old enough now that I need two whole packs of candles to get the necessary number, but I'm wallowing in my denial so I settled for just one set. Why yes, I'm turning 24 again (my motto for the next ten years of my life). 

My birthday weekend consisted of: doughnuts, high tea service, sushi, and sweet gifts, though the best gift is and forever will be the reminder that I am loved by some very wonderful people.

[milkrice]

One of my biggest fears is that people will realize how easy it is to make homemade ice cream, thus reducing what makes me impressive by at least 87%. Once you've wowed them with ice cream, what's left? Is this why baked alaska was invented? 

On the bright side, I've discovered how to get people drunk via dessert. 

step 1: Find a jar of Trader Joe's 'Dark Morello Cherries In Light Syrup'.  step 2: Drain the liquid out of the jar (set liquid aside for whatever your heart desires). step 3: Fill the cherries jar back up with bourbon. I like using this one in desserts. step 4: Put the jar back into the fridge for 3-4 hours. step 5: Forget about the cherries until 24 hours later. Insist this was intentional because like wine, everything gets better with age.  step 6: Mix the cherries into chocolate-swirled vanilla ice cream. Remain unfazed by the fact the cherries look and smell like they are 99.9% bourbon by mass.  step 7: Serve ice cream to unsuspecting roommates.  step 8: Allow them to confiscate your bottle of bourbon and revoke your liquor cabinet privileges. You've another half jar full of boozecherries in the fridge, anyway.

Eating the cherries is like taking squishy mini shots of whiskey. Too overwhelming for ice cream, but I think they'll be fantastic in sangrias. 

[milkrice]

6 week old terrier mixes; we're fostering them until mid August. These guys have been a joy to take care of because they're so uncomplicated (I've been getting full nights of sleep, gasp).

The daily routine is: wake up, eat and play, go back to sleep for 2-3 hours, repeat. When it's time to sleep again they just gravitate towards whoever's nearby and settle down. 

They all have very distinct personalities.

House (cutie in the first picture): runt of the litter. Usually the first to fall asleep. Will do whatever the other two are doing. Occasionally cries for no discernible reason. 

Techno: Exuberant little trouble maker! He loves exploring and is always the one trying to wiggle into new nooks and crannies. He's also the most vocal. 

Binky (aka Lana): The pudgiest of the three. Is the first to run to the food bowl. Doesn't complain much, in fact if the other two are crying she'll start wrestling them and growling. She's my favorite because her disposition is so calm and sweet.

I'm gonna bawl when we give them back, calling it right now. 

[milkrice]

Celebrated our roommate's birthday with a strawberry coconut tres leches cake. For a long time I balked at the idea of milk-soaked cake, but this Spanish sweet deserves a momentary suspension of such biases. The sponge cake soaks up the trio of milks without ever getting soggy. It tastes like condensed milk in cake form; who doesn't like condensed milk?

One of my favorite things about SF is the San Francisco Herb Co, a small shop that sells bulk spices for ridiculously low prices. Their fancy shred coconut makes me very happy, mostly because it makes hiding lopsided cake sides a breeze. A messy breeze. 

I like using this recipe for the cake, but you're on your own as far as decorating it goes.

[milkrice]

Acquired these from Gilt when they were running their -30% 4th of July special, how can I say no to a good deal on froufrou scented things? I can't. I'm very lucky M indulges my obsession with candles.

---Scent breakdown below, if you're curious---

Bluewick Becca: peach + pluot scent. I was expecting something sugary sweet and fruity, but right now it's more fresh and light and somewhat sweet. I'm hoping the peach notes'll come out during burn. 

Bluewick Ginger Jasmine: Kind of a generic but pleasantly floral scent with a slight zing to it from the ginger. Has amazing throw (fancy candle talk for "wow I can smell that all the way from the hallway"), but after the flames are extinguished the scent doesn't really linger too long. Pity.

Seda France 'Camellia Montagne': By far my favorite, and not just because of the outrageously lovely box. When I first smelled it, I thought, "If you took feminine grace and sophistication and turned it into a candle, this is it." Then while looking up the scent notes online, I stumbled onto this: 

The Seda France Camellia Montangne Candle was inspired by Coco Chanel who was rarely seen without a white camellia pinned to her dress. The Queen Mother grew them in all her gardens. Boasting more than two hundred varieties, it is the most prominent flower in cultivation. Our own interpretation is appropriately grand, with the perfumed blooms of tea rose, muguet, cyclamen, lily, jasmine, violet, hyacinth and Bulgarian rose overlapping the crisp scents of citrus, green leaves and rosewood, plus cinnamon, clove, vanilla and white musk for a final touch of sugar and spice.

How excruciatingly perfect is that? It's easily the best smelling candle I've ever come across, and I've stuck my nose into a whole lotta candles. 

Gilt's doing another round of candle-peddling today so if you're interested in picking up a pretty little pagoda of your own, please feel free to use my referral link to check out the Seda France sale.

[milkrice]

Event #1: I wash our water glasses and set them aside on a dish towel to dry in the kitchen. 

Event #2: M plays 'The Last Of Us' in the living room and I sit down to watch him play.

Event #3: Half an hour into the game, we hear a distinct, loud "clink" behind us in the kitchen, like the sound of a pebble hitting a windshield. I go to investigate, see nothing out of the ordinary.

Event #4: The next day, I reach to pick up the clean, dried glass and the top part of the glass DETACHES FROM THE BASE. The cut's pretty smooth and clean.

How did this even? ?? ??

[milkrice]

I lied when I declared I would never buy freezer aisle ice cream ever again. 'Salted Caramel Truffle' is still the best Haagen-Dazs flavor: salted caramel ice cream with caramel swirls, and tiny little caramel truffles. I just wish they'd stop their coquettish "Limited Edition" ploy so that I'd be less inclined to stockpile these self-destructive little tubs. 

[milkrice]

We moved to a new apartment (one floor below our old apartment) that gives us a view of the city and lets us watch the fog nibble at the building tops on gloomy days. It's noisier but the enhanced view of the sunrise and sunset are excellent consolation prizes. As is the ability to prance around in a bath towel without fear of neighbors peeking in from across the courtyard. Hooray for downgrades that are actually upgrades! 

[milkrice]

We've been fostering this little terror since Thursday. He's a Chihuahua/Dachschund mix whose bark is on par with his bite which is to say he's much too loud and way too chompy. Still cute though. 

[milkrice]

A much delayed photo of Mother's day peonies. I take zero credit for the procurement of this bouquet; if my family were a company, Lily would be the ever-thoughtful HR department and I'd be the aloof manager who doesn't remember anyone's birthday but buys you lunch from time to time.

Peonies are gorgeous but they are so dramatic when they die. Be prepared to clean a ton of fallen petals and dusty yellow stamen off whatever surface the vase is sitting on. 

[milkrice]

The best text to see when it's 6PM and you haven't eaten since waking up at 3PM and you're still sick: "Coming to get you for ice cream". 

M and I are planning to go low carb again but before that we both agreed to prepare for the Doomsday by shamelessly eating all our favorite carbs. Today's indulgence was not two or four but seven scoops from Smitten, an ice cream shop with one particular quirk: they churn your order fresh in front of you. From liquid cream to silky smooth frozen goodness in 60 seconds, using liquid nitrogen. How's a girl supposed to compete with that? Their vanilla is perfect. 

[milkrice]

What was supposed to be only a weekend vacation in LA stretched into nearly a whole week's worth of eating, eating, and more eating, thanks to some very accommodating friends and cousins. The city of angels stole a piece of my heart (or is it stomach?) with the way it enables my gluttony. 

I fail at lifestyle blogging because the only pictures I take are of food. I promise there's more to my life than eating. Probably. 

Anyway, here are the pictures that turned out well enough to be worth sharing:

i. Buns from 85c, a killer bakery + drinks shop. Had their milk buns, taro swirl buns, and mochi egg tarts, and loved all of it. Their sea salt coffee's also very worth trying. 

ii. I usually shirk from ramen shops because the broths tend to be way too salty for my tastes, but I really liked this pork ramen from Ajisen. Cabbage and pork is a surprisingly good combo.

iii. After seeing fat cups of boba on other blogs I got a little obsessive about trying Half & Half. The tea itself is actually pretty mediocre, but the boba is perfect and their employees don't look at me weird when I ask for five different toppings in one cup. 

How in the world is it almost June already? Yikes. 

[milkrice]

Two things: a reunion with 'Iron Council' and a diet.

I discovered a whole stash of books during the move. I can't remember the last time I read a physical book since receiving an e-reader two Christmases ago. I used to think fancy e-readers were a luxury, but I've since realized that hard copies are the true luxury. Having a physical book means you have room for it in your home, space in your luggage, and light by which to read. Who has any of that these days? Also, why does flipping a page feel so good? 

I'm on day 5 of my low(er) carb diet. The first three days were rough; I'd wake up dizzy and lightheaded, but I think I've adjusted since then. I'm avoiding "white carbs", so things like rice, bread, pasta, potatoes are all off the menu. My meals revolve around meat, eggs, veggies, fruits, and lots of water. Also these weird low-carb wrap things I found that are surprisingly palatable. 

No idea if it's helping me lose weight, since I can't find the scale, but I'm feeling healthier. That must count for something, placebo effect or not.